Suol’s Daniel Bortz plays his first ever London gig this Dec… We catch up with him to get the lowdown…

His DJ sets regularly leave enthusiastic audience that especially appreciates his playful versatility – with musical influences ranging from punk and new wave (Stranglers / Joy Division) to pop (Prince / Peter Gabriel) and classic techno (Dave Angel / Daniel Bell), to local folk music (Biermösl Blosn). We speak to SUOL’s Daniel Bortz ahead of his set at Shoreditch’s Basing House on the 2nd of December….

Q> Hi Daniel, how are you?
A> I‘m fine, thank you!

Q> What have you been up to today?
A> Slept for a very loooong time…had an extensive breakfast, ate cake and drank a lot of espresso with my girlfriend downtown.

Q> What started your musical journey?
A> I’d have to blame it on the cooking pots I was thumping on for most of my childhood. After this I improved my skills on a real drum kit. Then came MTV, friends’ mixtapes and drum computers (in that order).

Q> You’ve cited your influences as ranging from punk to nu-wave; pop to techno…do you think this range of influences comes across in the music you produce?
A> It’s music in general that inspires me, rather than being constrained by a specific genre. The feeling I get when I’m listening to music I love completely influences what I make.

Q> A lot of your releases are sample-based but are usually fairly obscure…do you think there’s a difference between digging really deep for your samples are opposed to simply using the latest sample pack or in-trend vocals?
A> Everyone has to decide for themselves which way to go. There are several ways to work with samples, I’m not going to criticise any of them.

Q> You’ve been DJing for close to 20 years now…how do you think your style or DJing has developed in that time?
A> Style changes or is on repeat. My sets change every time too. Sometimes I play the new stuff, sometimes only tunes released 10 or more years ago. Unfortunately I am not able to play vinyl in every club because turntables and stuff are in such bad shape mostly.

Q> GetDownGood will be your first performance in London…why have you never made it over here until now?
A> Yeah…good question. I wonder why!? Not sure to be honest, but there will be some more gigs in UK in the next couple of months, like Chambre 69, Glasgow on 10th December.

Q> Tell us about the nightlife in your native Augsburg, does it have a thriving Deep House scene?
A> There is no real deep house scene inAugsburg, but there are a lot of open minded people. I’ve had some amazing nights there in the past!

Q> Tell us about your relationship with Suol…it seems like quite a tight-knit family…
A> Suol is definitely more than a label. There are family structures. It´s like working together with friends! I’m really glad to have found such a likeminded group of people

Q> And Patstamusik? What output can we expect from that next year?
A> Pasta was there at the beginning and will be there till I die. It is a relaxed team. We do not really have a plan, it´s always spontaneous.

Q> Why should people come to see you on the 2nd?
A> Because I always do my best to have a good night with the people. And my sets are much better than my interviews.